It is sometimes easy to forget about chapbooks in an era of immediate online publishing and personalised literary blogs - a modern environment where any poem, review or piece of short fiction can be published the moment it is finished. Yet, against all the odds, somewhere within this grip of modernity, the age-old chapbook continues to delight and inform.

Over the bank holiday weekend, I spent many an hour reading the diverse collection of poetry chapbooks Blackheath Books had recently sent me.

The first thing I did before reading them, was marvel at the sheer beauty of these things. The feel of them, the texture and quality is just right. Each Blackheath chapbook is handmade and "printed on 100% recycled paper and card containing a high percentage of post-consumer waste", according to the inside front cover. If you want to get an idea of how much love and attention goes into producing each chapbook, just watch this wonderful short video of a batch in production at Blackheath Books' workshop in Pembrokeshire.

It isn't all that surprising chapbooks are still popular today as they have been around for a rather long time. Records a mere click away report the earliest known chapbooks dating from as far back as 1553. In the days when daily newspapers were a luxury for the elite, handmade chapbooks - from collections of bawdy verse to general everyday news - served as the only communicative device for the general public to rely upon.

Literature as we know it, in terms of its underground distribution, just couldn't have survived without the original 'chapmen' who peddled issues from village to village, it seems, so culturally indebted to them are we and important their history is. The samizdats of Russia, the poetry chapbooks of Budapest and Prague, the Dadaist manifestos, the counter-culture publications of the '60s and the Punk era's cut-and-paste ferocity of 'Sniffin' Glue' all spring to mind. Amazingly, it seems that even the most internet savvy of young writers are publishing their own chapbooks today, with some interesting titles, for example: 'I Will Unfold You With My Hairy Hands' by Shane Jones, 'Paul Simon' by Chris Killen, 'The Name Of This Band Is The Talking Heads Vol. 1' by Zachary German.

The first chapbooks I ever bought were back in the early '90s. In fact, my first ever piece of published work - complete with glaring typo (how 'chapbook' is that) - appeared in issue 25 of 'The Kerouac Connection', a serious publication with a worldwide readership and contributions from writers such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Carolyn Cassady. It was painstakingly printed and stapled together up in Glasgow of all places. I'm sure it's moved stateside now.

I was first introduced to the wondrously savage early writing of novelist Ellis Sharp, whose Malice Aforethought Press chapbooks were a real inspiration and are highly sought after today. Chapbooks have been part of my life ever since. Life honestly wouldn't be the same for me without yet another individually produced Stewart Home chapbook dropping through my letterbox - and long may it continue.

So, Blackheath Books has to be celebrated in these increasingly digital times for standing up to progress and retaining a firm footing in a publishing environment that finds itself in a constant state of flux, and saluted for publishing a series of beautifully produced chapbooks that refreshingly continue a worthwhile tradition in the underground dissemination of literature.

As a chapbook enthusiast, I'm asking you to list your favourite chapbooks. I want to expand my chapbook library, you see. I know there are myriads out there just waiting to be discovered. Let's rediscover the literary chapbook together.